Mays v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

354 F.Supp.3d 1136

Lerna MAYS, Plaintiff,

v.WAL-MART STORES, INC., Defendant.

Case No. CV 18-02318-AB (KKx)

United States District Court, C.D. California.

Signed January 29, 2019

D. Alan Harris, Priya Mohan, Harris and Ruble, Glendale, CA, for Plaintiff.

Cheryl Johnson-Hartwell, Mitchell A. Wrosch, Paloma P. Peracchio, Susan E. Coleman, Burke Williams and Sorensen LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for Defendant.

ORDER DENYING WAL-MART STORES, INC.'S MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS

HONORABLE ANDRÉ BIROTTE JR., UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE

Before the Court is Defendant Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.'s ("Walmart") Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. (Dkt. No. 82 (hereinafter, "Mot.").) Plaintiff Lerna Mays ("Plaintiff") opposed the motion, and Walmart filed a reply. (See Dkt. No. 83 (hereinafter, "Opp'n"); see also Dkt. No. 85 (hereinafter, "Reply").) For the following reasons, the Court DENIES the Motion.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff brought this suit against Walmart on behalf of a putative class of former and current Walmart employees for alleged violations of the California Labor Code. Plaintiff moved to certify the class and alleged Walmart engaged in three "class-wide policies and practices" that violate California law, including: (1) failing to provide the legal name of the employer on its wage statements; (2) failing to list net wages earned on certain wage statements issued after the Statement of Final Wages; and, (3) failing to timely pay all accrued wages immediately upon separation of employment. (Dkt. No. 43 at 1-2.) Plaintiff sought to certify two classes of Walmart associates: (1) all California workers who received a wage statement between December 16, 2016 to date (the "Wage Statement Class") and (2) all California workers who received one or more wage payments during the period from December 18, 2014 to date, whose employment terminated on or after December 18, 2014, who received additional wages or vacation pay following the issuance of their Statement of Final Wages (the "Former Employee Class").

On August 22, 2018, this Court denied the motion. (Dkt. No. 61 (hereinafter, "Class Cert. Order").) As to the Former Employee Subclass, the Court determined Plaintiff failed to establish numerosity, commonality, and predominance. (Id. at 7-13.) As to the Wage Statement Class, the Court found Plaintiff alleged no plausible concrete injury and therefore did not have standing to sue in federal court. (Id. at 19.) Accordingly, the Court dismissed Plaintiff's second cause of action for lack of standing with leave to amend. (Id. at 20.) The Court denied Plaintiff's subsequent motion for reconsideration of the order denying class certification. (Dkt. Nos. 63, 74.)

On September 12, 2018, Plaintiff filed the First Amended Complaint adding a representative claim under the Labor Code's Private Attorneys General Act ("PAGA") of 2004, Cal. Lab. Code § 2698 et seq. (See generally Dkt. No. 64 (hereinafter, "FAC").) Plaintiff alleges the following causes of action: "(1) Continuing Wages, Cal. Lab. Code §§ 201, 202 and 203 ; (2) Failure to Provide Adequate Pay Stubs, Cal. Lab. Code § 226(a) ; (3) Failure to Provide Reporting Time Pay, IWC Wage Order 7; (4) Unfair Competition, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17200 et seq. ; (5) Failure to Provide Employment Records, Cal. Lab. Code § 226(b) ; (6) Failure to Provide Employment Records upon request, Cal. Lab. Code § 1198.5 ; (7) Violation of the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004, California Labor Code §§ 2698 et seq. " (FAC at 1.) Plaintiff seeks civil penalties under PAGA for Walmart's alleged (1) failure to provide itemized wage statements in violation of Labor Code section 226(a) ; (2) failure to timely pay all wages due in violation of Labor Code sections 201 through 203 and 227.3 ; (3) failure to pay reporting-time pay in violation of Labor Code sections 204 and 1198 ; (4) failure to provide employment records upon request in violation of Labor Code section 226(b) ; and (5) failure to provide employment records in violation of Labor Code section 1198.5. (FAC ¶ 81.)

Specifically, Plaintiff alleges Walmart "has had a consistent policy and/or practice of: (1) failing to timely pay employees all wages due upon termination; (2) knowingly and intentionally failing to timely furnish the proper itemized wage statements to employees; and (3) failing to pay reporting-time pay." (FAC ¶ 5.)

Walmart now moves for judgment on the pleadings as to Plaintiff's second cause of action for failure to provide adequate wage statements under California Labor Code section 226(a) and partial judgment on Plaintiff's seventh cause of action for civil penalties under PAGA on the ground that Plaintiff failed to exhaust administrative remedies. (See generally Mot.)

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c), "[a]fter the pleadings are closed– but early enough not to delay trial–a party may move for judgment on the pleadings." A Rule 12(c) motion follows the same standard as a motion to dismiss. Chavez v. United States , 683 F.3d 1102, 1108 (9th Cir. 2012). A Rule 12(c) motion may thus be predicated on either (1) the lack of a cognizable legal theory, or (2) insufficient facts to support a cognizable legal claim. See Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep't , 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). In ruling on a Rule 12(c) motion, the Court "must accept all factual allegations in the complaint as true and construe them in the light most favorable to the non–moving party." Fleming v. Pickard , 581 F.3d 922, 925 (9th Cir. 2009). "Judgment on the pleadings is properly granted when there is no issue of material fact in dispute, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Id. In a motion for judgment on the pleadings, the Court may consider information "contained in materials of which the court may take judicial notice" and documents attached to the complaint. Heliotrope Gen., Inc. v. Ford Motor Co. , 189 F.3d 971, 981 n.18 (9th Cir. 1999) ; see United States v. Ritchie , 342 F.3d 903, 908 (9th Cir. 2003).

"While Rule 12(c)... does not expressly provide for partial judgment on the pleadings, neither does it bar such a procedure; it is common to apply Rule 12(c) to individual causes of action." Strigliabotti v. Franklin Res., Inc. , 398 F.Supp.2d 1094, 1097 (N.D. Cal. 2005). "Courts have the discretion in appropriate cases to grant a Rule 12(c) motion with leave to amend, or to simply grant dismissal of the action instead of entry of judgment. Franklin v. Adams & Assocs., Inc. , No. 2:16-cv-00303-TLN-KJN, 2017 WL 5177691, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Nov. 7, 2017). Because Walmart's motion asserts contentions relating solely to the sufficiency of the allegations in the complaint, the Court construes these motions as motions for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Rule 12(c). See Lonberg v. City of Riverside , 300 F.Supp.2d 942, 945 (C.D. Cal. 2004).

III. DISCUSSION

Walmart moves for judgment on the pleadings on Plaintiff's second cause of action for failure to provide adequate wage statements on the grounds that (1) the wage statements complied with Labor Code section 226(a)(8) and (2) Plaintiff failed to plead sufficient facts to establish Article III standing. Walmart also moves for partial judgment on the pleadings on Plaintiff's PAGA claim for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. The Court will address each argument in turn.

A. Walmart Is Not Entitled to Judgment on Plaintiff's Second Cause of Action for Failure to Provide Adequate Wage Statements.

Plaintiff alleges that Walmart "knowingly and intentionally" failed to furnish to her and other aggrieved employees itemized wage statements that include Walmart's name, as required by California Labor Code section 226(a)(8). (FAC ¶¶ 5, 15.)

An employee who suffers an injury "as a result of a knowing and intentional failure by an employer to comply with subdivision (a) is entitled to recover" damages. Cal. Labor Code § 226(e). To recover under Labor Code section 226(e), a plaintiff must show: (1) a violation of section 226(a) that (2) was knowing and intentional, and (3) an injury suffered as a result of the violation. See Suarez v. Bank of Am. Corp. , No. 18-CV-01202-MEJ, 2018 WL 3659302, at *11 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 2, 2018) ; Novoa v. Charter Commns., Inc. , 100 F.Supp.3d 1013, 1025 (E.D. Cal. 2015).

Walmart moves for judgment on the pleadings on the grounds that Plaintiff has not alleged facts sufficient to support the first element, i.e., a violation of section 226(a). To ensure this Court has standing, the Court will also address the second and third elements.

1. Violation of Section 226(a)(8)

Plaintiff alleges that Walmart violated Labor Code section 226(a)(8), which requires employers to provide accurate, itemized wage statements to employees that list "the name and address of the legal entity that is the employer ," because the wage statements listed "Wal-Mart Associates, Inc.,"—Walmart's payroll company—instead of "Wal-Mart Stores, Inc."—Plaintiff's employer. (See FAC ¶ 15.) Walmart argues that Plaintiff fails to allege sufficient facts to support her claim because the wage statement identified Walmart as the employer and therefore complied with section 226(a)(8). Walmart contends the question at issue is "whether a statutory violation exists simply because the term ‘Associates’ was used instead of ‘Stores’ after the name ‘Walmart.’ " (Mot. at 18.) The answer, in Walmart's view, is no. The Court disagrees.

Here, Plaintiff attached a statement of earnings and deductions to her complaint, which has a "Walmart" logo at the top of the page and includes the following information:

Wal-Mart Statement of Earnings and Deductions

Wal-Mart Associates, Inc.

792 S.W. 8th Street 3522

Bentonville, AR 72716

(FAC, Ex. 8.)

Plaintiff also attached to the complaint a document titled "Notice to Employee" to "communicate employment-related information," which lists "Wal-Mart Stores, Inc." as the name of her employer and 702 S.W. 8th Street, Bentonville, AR 72716 as the physical and...